Psychology and Human Mental Processes

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Psychology and Human Mental Processes

• HPS3M

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Rabbit or Duck?
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How many legs?
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How many black dots?
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Are squares A and B the same shade of grey?
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Which monster is bigger?
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Old woman or young woman?
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What do you see?
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What is Psychology?

• The scientific study of behaviour and mental
  processes, and the factors that influence these
  processes

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Old School Psychology

• Ancient Greeks
• Personality is determined by the balance of
  fluids a person has
• Blood (social, extroverted, forgetful)
• Phlegm (self-confident, kind, apathetic)
• Melancholy (thoughtful, creative, worried)
• Choler (ambitious, energetic, easily angered)
• Hippocrates was first to observe that the brain
  (rather than the heart) was where thinking too
  place

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Modern Psychology

• Began in late 19th century
• Branches
• Structuralism
• Functionalism
• Psychoanalysis
• Behaviourism
• Humanism
• Cognitive Psychology

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Structuralism

• Founded by German William Wundt
• Conducted experiments on sensation, perception
  and attention
• Interested in the inner workings of the mind
• Emphasized the use of the scientific method

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Functionalism

• Founded by American William James
• Based on Darwins idea of adaptation rather
  than physical adaptation, James believed humans
  adapted mental characteristics in order to
  survive
• Studied real life (children, education, gender
  roles) rather than lab experiments

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Psychoanalysis

• Most closely associated with German Sigmund Freud
• Observed that many nervous problems were the
  result of unconscious mental forces
• Psychoanalysis attempts to uncover patients
  unconscious thoughts by discussing their
  experiences and feelings

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Behaviourism

• Founded by American John Watson
• Disagreed with Freud thought psychology should
  be based on observation
• Since the mind cant be observed, behaviour is
  the only source of data
• Behaviour is a response to environment

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Humanism

• Developed in the 1950s as a reaction against
  psychoanalysis and behaviourism
• Emphasizes that each person is unique, and are
  not controlled by their unconscious drives
  (Freud) or by their environment (Watson)
• Rather than being controlled by outer or inner
  factors, humans do have the power to make their
  own choices

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Cognitive Psychology

• Study of the mental processes involved in memory,
  learning and thinking
• Around since the 19th century and has become more
  advanced since (for example through the use of
  technology to monitor brain activity
  electronically)

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Homework

• P. 45 questions 1,2
• Read Case Study Touch and a Strange New Sight
  on p. 46 and answer questions in the margin